Toggle actuated and adjustably mounted pivoted jaw wrench



March 15, 1949. v s. WARD ETAL TOGGLE ACTUATED AND ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PIVOTED JAW WRENCH Filed March 22, 1946 INVENTOR. meant S. 7M4], BY Gordmz/ J8. 07111417111;

r azzom Patented Mar. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TOGGLE. AQTUATED AND ADJUSTABLY MOUNIEDPIYOTED JAW WRENCH Vincent S. Ward-and Gordon K; Hurlbut, Binghamton, N. Y., assignors; by mesne assignments, toB M 0. Manufacturing Corporation, Binghamton,,N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationMarch 22, 1946, Serial No. 656,348

ii-Claims. 1.

This invention relates to wrenches, and more particularly'to those of the type disclosed in Pat'- ent No. 2,388,580, dated November 6, 1945, and issued to F. A. Snell, and in our co-pending application, Serial No. 650,242 filed February 26; 1946.

In that patent and application is shown a wrench inwhich a movable jaw is brought to a parallel relation with a fixed jaw, regardless of the spacing of the jaws, by movement of an actuating handle, and the present invention contemplates a structureby means of which similar results are obtained. The. present invention relatesto improvements in the type of wrench referred to and by means of which an accurate and selective setting of the spacing of the co-operating laws is secured.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a simple, sturdy mechanism by means of which a movable jaw may be set at a selected distance from a fixed jaw in order to grip an object of a given size, said" mechanism contemplating the employment of a cam means which is readily adjustable to attain "the desired setting, such means being entirely reliable and unlikely to get out of order despite the hard use which a tool of this character is generally given.

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will be hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention i disclosed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a Wrench constructed according to the invention, the jaws-being shown in closed position. Fig. 2.is-a side elevation of the wrench in open position, with one of the face plates of the frame removed to show the operating parts, and Fig. 3 is an edge view of the wrench, as seen from the rightside of Fig.1;

In the drawing, the frame ofthelwrenchjs generally indicated at i, the same including; aha-i1- of similarly shaped, spaced-apart side members or face plates designated at 2 and 3. The fixed handle portion of the wrench is composed of the narrowed end parts 40 of the face plates 2 and 3, between which is sandwiched an insert I8 which may be composed of plastic, wood or other suitable lightweight, strong material. Rivets l9 extending through the parts 40 and through the insert l8 hold the parts together, with the face plates 2 and 3 thus maintained in suitably spaced relation.

At 4 is shown the fixed jaw which is mounted between the face plates 2 and 3 at one end of the wrench frame, and is held in place between the may be provided with a serratedgripping face 6,

- as shown.

The movable jaw is shown at 8, the same being of substantially bell-crank form, and havin the head portion 1, formed with the gripping face 9; and provided with an arm 8a located between the ends of companion links I! and pivotally atta-chedthereto by the pivot pin Hi. The second arm 20 of the movable jaw is pivotally attached by a pin 22 to the companion adjusting links 21 to be shortly described.

At It is shown the actuating handle by means of which the movable jaw is moved to or from the fixed jaw l. Said handle l5 has one end located between the ends of the companion links H and is pivotally secured thereto by means of the pivot pin [2 which has its ends disposed in angular slots I3 formed in the sides or face plates 2 and 3 of the frame, of the Wrench. By movementacf the handle l5 in a direction to or from the fixed handle, pin I2 will be caused toride up and down in the slots it in a manner to be described.

At lfi'is shown a pair of short companion links which are pivoted at it to the, actuating handle [5, at a point between the pivot 52 and the free end of said handle, the opposite ends of the links it being pivoted on the pin ll, said pin being secured between the sides or face plates 2 and 3 of the frame I.

The construction of the means for adjusting the movable jaw 8 will be noted in Fig. 2. There it will be seen that the two companion link 21 have an arm 2b of the jaw 8 sandwiched between them at one end and pivoted to them by means of the pivot pin 22. The opposite ends of the links 21' are pivotedon thepin 25 secured between the. faceplates 2 and 3 of the frame.

At 231s shown a threaded adjusting screw on which a knurled. adjusting nut 30 is threadably mounted, said adjusting nut projecting through openings provided in the face plates 2 and 3 to thereby render said nut accessible for manual adjustment. At one end, the adjusting screw 29 is provided with a clevis 3| and pivoted therein on the pivot pin 32, is one end of a cam plate 21. The opposite end of the cam plate 2'! is pivoted on the pin 23 between the companion links 2|. The operative edge of the cam plate, shown at 33, is held in contact with a roller or pin 24 mounted between the face plates 2 and 3. This arrangement is such that by manipulation of the knurled adjusting nut 38, the adjusting screw 29 is moved up and down, and the curvature of the cam edge 33 of plate 21 is such that as it bears against the roller or pin 24 it will cause links 2| to be swung on the pivot pin 25 to the required angularity to determine the spacing of the gripping face 9 of jaw 8 from the face 6 of the fixed law 4.

It will be seen from the structure described,

that when the actuating handle I is moved toward the fixed handle portion of the frame I, it will cause the movable jaw 8, through the arrangement of linkage disclosed, to swing toward the fixed jaw 4 to an extent determined by the angular position of the cam 27 relative to the links 2!. The movable jaw will assume a position of parallelism to the fixed jaw when the movable jaw reaches the limit of its inward swing and then, when the pin M passes the over-center position, the parts will be locked in close clamping relation with any object to be grasped between the jaws. When releasing the object by swinging the handle 85 outwardly, or to the position shown in Fig. 2, it will be noted that the slots 13 permit the descent of the pivot pin I2 to the lower ends of these slots, and this descending movement of the pivot ['2 under the swing of the handle it, exerts a longitudinal pull on the links ll, causing them to impart a swinging movement on the movable jaw, thus swinging said jaw about the pivot 22 to bring its gripping face 9 to the angular position shown in Fig. 2, and at once permitting the release of the object then located between the jaws.

In the construction described it will be noted that the use of springs is avoided; that the adjustment of the movable jaw relative to the fixed jaw is secured by cam means, allowing an accurate and precise setting of the jaws and resulting in a sturdy and rugged structure.

While we have shown and described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a tool of the character described, a frame having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw, a handle and linkage by which movement of the handle swings the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw, said linkage including a pair of links pivoted at one end to the frame and at their other end to the movable jaw, a cam plate pivoted at one end to said links, an adjusting screw and means for adjusting it within the frame, one end of said screw being pivotally attached to the second end of the cam plate, the cam plate having a cam-shaped edge portion, and a fixed element in the frame against which said edge portion is maintained, whereby the shape of said edge portion will cause the links to which the cam plate is pivotally attached to be swung either connected at one end to the movable jaw and at the other end to the frame, a cam plate pivotally connected to said links, a roller against which the cam plate is maintained, and an adjusting screw attached to the cam plate to vary the angularity of said cam plate relative to the links to which it is attached.

3. In a tool of the character described, a frame having a fixed jaw, a movable jaw connected to a substantially parallel linkage, one side of said linkage including an actuating handle, the other side of the linkage including a pair of links connected at one end to the movable jaw and at the other end to the frame, an adjusting screw movable longitudinally in the frame, a cam in the form of a link having one end attached to an end of the adjusting screw and a second end attached to the last-mentioned pair of links, and means constantly maintained in engagement with the cam and causing sai-d cam to shift the links to which it is connected to the desired position of angularit according to the adjustment of the adjusting screw.

4. In a tool of the character described, a frame including a fixed jaw, a movable jaw com-prising part of a linkage connected at two points to the frame, said linkage including an actuating handle by the movement of which the linkage is caused to swing the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw, said linkage including a camshaped link having one end connected through pivotal means to the movable jaw, an adjusting screw and means for moving it axially, one end of the adjusting screw being provided with a clevis, the second end of the cam-shaped link being pivotally attached to said clevis, the pivotal means to which the first end of the cam-shaped link is attached including a link that is pivoted at one end to the movable jaw and at its other end to the frame, and a fixed element in the frame against which the cam-surface of the camshaped link is operative.

VINCENT S. WARD. GORDON K. I-IURLBUT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,280,405 Collison et a1. Oct. 1 1918 1,984,622 Babin Dec. 18, 1934 2,388,580 Snell Nov. 6, 1945 

